Sour Times
by BriceSquared
Summary: Gaia and Jinx have been best friends throughout all kinds of catastrophes. But when a group of villains goes looking for them, will they survive? And when the XMen try to help, will they accept? CANCELED
1. Chapter 1: Pink Heaven

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or Portishead's song "Sour Times," so don't get litigious.

At first Gaia thought she was in Heaven. After all, Heaven was white… or was it? It could be pink for all she knew; she'd never been there before. "Wow," she said. "I died." She knew it was a lame thing to say, but she was so swept up in the coolness of it all that she couldn't think of anything better.

Jinx noticed that Gaia was at her side. At first, she thought she was in Heaven also because everything was white (not pink). But after a while, she began to feel like she was just in a white room. "No, Gaia, you are not dead. We are somewhere else."

"So what happened? We were abducted by aliens?" Gaia laughed nervously, not entirely disbelieving her words.

Jinx noticed that there were needles attached with wires in Gaia's veins. Then she looked at her own veins to see that she, too, had needles there. "Wait a minute," she said, looking at Gaia. "Do you think the aliens are doing experiments on us? I mean, look around! I have never seen a room like this!" Jinx tried to sit up, but there was too much pain in her ribs. "Agh! I think a few of my ribs are broken!" she cried.

Gaia started to tug the needles out of her arms. (Needles hurt too much anyway; she had deep veins.) "That is IT! I am going to talk to whoever is in charge here and-" She tripped over a power cord on the way to the door, falling flat on her face. "Ow…"

Jinx rolled her eyes. "Well, I can't go talk to anyone. My ribs hurt even when I sit still. Please help me up…" Jinx grabbed the handrail in front of her for support. "Hey!" she yelled at Gaia. "Help me out now! We are not going to achieve anything if you're just going to hang there on the floor!"

"What do you expect me to do?" Gaia retorted as she stood up. "Carry you in my backpack?"

"Oh," Jinx matched her sarcasm, "Would you please?" She chuckled to herself. "Okay, I really mean it, please help me up."

Gaia began to tug at Jinx's arm. She'd nearly lifted Jinx when the door whooshed open. Gaia hid behind Jinx. "Gaia!" Jinx whispered violently. "What are you doing? Help me up!" She saw a dark figure within the light shining through the doorway. "Oh my god," Jinx gasped. "It's Jesus!"

Gaia squinted at the figure. "I didn't know Jesus wore sunglasses…"

The figure stepped out of the light. Both Jinx and Gaia looked faintly disappointed, as it was not Jesus. It was a man. A very handsome one, at that. He was looking at both girls. "It looks like they're awake."

Another lady came to his side. "Scott, I think you should go." As he walked away, he kissed her goodbye.

"I will see you later," he said.

Gaia didn't want to admit that she was jealous of the woman, but it was plain enough for Jinx to see.

"Hello," the woman said in a reasonably friendly manner. "I'm Dr. Jean Grey." She stuck out her hand for the girls to shake. Jinx had to ignore it because of her broken ribs. Gaia chose to ignore it because the woman was not making any sort of a good impression on her.

"Well, Dr. Jean Grey, I'm non-Dr. Charlotte Monahan, otherwise known as Gaia, and I'd be very interested in knowing why we're in your research facility. My friend here does not need to be poked and prodded with your needles. She needs ME to take her to a hospital." Gaia could be very hostile when necessary… or, apparently, unnecessary. Jinx was willing to bet her unbroken bones that a very bad storm was brewing outside; such things tended to happen when Gaia was angry.

"You really shouldn't be moving either," Jean said, collecting the various tubes Gaia had scattered when she removed the needles. Gaia's annoyance was beginning to show inside the room; the temperature inside had dropped ten degrees. Armed with her adrenaline, Gaia was able to pull Jinx to her feet in a single motion.

"It's OK, _Mommy_, I swear we aren't going out to see boys and drink beer," Gaia said acidly as she half-carried Jinx out of the room. In the elevator, Gaia realized that she'd gone postal without a plan. Still, Gaia had said she was going to get Jinx out of this place and into a hospital, and she was _not_ going to let an annoyingly lucky doctor get in her way! She would do what she'd said if she had to walk all the way to the nearest city!

"What, walk all the way carrying her?" a male voice spoke in her head.


	2. Chapter 2: Telepath Idol

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or Portishead's song "Sour Times," so don't get litigious.

Oh, great, a telepath. Gaia didn't like people peeping into her brain, so whenever someone tried, she used her surefire plan: singing really loud. Not vocally, of course, mentally:

IF AAALL THE RAINDROPS WERE LEMON DROPS AND GUMDROPS, OHH WHAT A RAIN THAT WOULD BEEE!

"I'm not saying that it would be impossible, just improbable."

Shut up! Uh… STAND-ING OUTSIDE WITH MY MOUTH O-PEN WIDE!

"Why didn't you ask that doctor to set your friend's ribs?"

LA LA LA, LALALA LA LA, I JUST CAN'T GET YOU OUT OF MY HEAD… No, Gaia, not Kylie Minogue! It's like admitting defeat!

"Oh, so you have a defeat to admit?"

Nooo! Um… I LIKE BIG BUTTS AND I CANNOT LIE! YOU OTHER BROTHERS CAN'T DENY!

"Deny. Yes. You're in denial."

WHEN A GIRL WALKS IN WITH AN ITTY-BITTY WAIST AND A ROUND THING IN YOUR FACE YOU GET-

"After all, who would want to admit that they're endangering their friend's life for the sake of pride?"

For Gaia, it was the last straw. She punched the side of the elevator in frustration, yelping with pain as she realized how stupid it was to punch metal. "Just get out of my head!" she screamed aloud.

Jinx just raised her eyebrows. If Gaia was finally going off the deep end, she wondered, would anyone notice the change?

The voice in Gaia's head continued. "Or was it for the sake of a petty crush?"

Gaia crossed her arms. This was just too much. "Do _not_ go there! There are certain places that mind-readers just…" She sighed, realizing that nothing she could say would get this loser out of her mind.

When the elevator door re-opened, Gaia had no real clue what to do anymore. She just sank to the floor and stared at the open doors as if they were demonically possessed. "You _do_ think it was a bad idea to stay down there, don't you?" she asked Jinx helplessly. Gaia pulled her courage back together. "I'll take that as a yes." She led (translation: half-dragged) Jinx to the door… and then promptly fell down again, Jinx landing on top of her. "Jinx," she asked her friend in a squished voice, "did you do that?"

Jinx lifted her head. "No, I didn't. Did I hurt you?"

Gaia attempted to respond, but since her face was pressed to the floor by Jinx's weight, all she could manage was "Nmmph."

"Oh, oops. That's a good idea. I'll get off." Jinx was rolling away, trying not to disturb her broken ribs too much, when she saw the elevator door open again. "Hello?" she whispered.

"Maybe I'm paranoid," said Gaia, "but I swear there's someone there."

Jinx walked back to the elevator, leaving Gaia on the ground. "You can get up now, you know, Gaia," Jinx said as she looked around. "I don't see anything. I think it's time to get going." Suddenly, they both heard voices in the hallway.

"Run!" Gaia hissed. Then she had a saner idea and tugged Jinx behind a large vase.

A man in a wheelchair rolled up next to the vase. "Jinx, Gaia, you can come out now."


	3. Chapter 3: The Ice Cream Song

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or Portishead's song "Sour Times," so don't get litigious.

Both of the girls were too bewildered to come up with a better idea, so they came out from behind the vase. Gaia shook her head. "Am I never going to be able to have a fair game of Hide and Seek again?"

The stranger in the wheelchair chuckled at that. "Jinx, don't be afraid; I'm not going to hurt you."

Jinx was amazed. "Hey, I was just thinking that! That is so weird."

"Hey," Gaia said in a vaguely hurt tone. "Did you really think I was talking to _myself_ in the elevator?"

Jinx rolled her eyes. "You know what, Gaia? Just shut your mouth." She turned to the wheelchair guy. "So what did you say your name was again?"

"I categorically refuse to shut up!" Gaia interrupted stubbornly.

"You're shutting it now!"

"Please, stop fighting," the wheelchair man cut in. "You are not here for that. You're here because we need you. My name is Professor Charles Xavier and-"

"Wait! You need us? For what?" Jinx demanded.

"That's what I was just going to tell you-"

"What is it?" Jinx butted in again. The Professor held out his hand, which somehow stopped Jinx from opening her mouth again.

"I'm sure you have heard about the strange things that have been happening over the last couple years. A break-in at the Statue of Liberty that left the torch damaged, a flood at an old research facility up north, a disaster in San Francisco that left many people missing or powerless for months… very few people know what actually happened. We know of a group that's had a great influence on these events, and one of its most powerful members has struck out on her own. We're not sure what she might do."

He had not silenced Gaia with his powers, so it was a minor miracle that she'd shut up so far. "And so… you're just going to attack her? What power does she have anyway?"

"I'm hoping we can talk to her, maybe even get her on our side, but I'm planning for the worst. We know she's planned something, perhaps even an alliance with one of her old friends, but we don't know what it is, and I don't want to get anyone killed just because there are too few people to oppose her… Jinx, you're not listening to me, are you?"

Jinx's hand paused, guilty of the minor crime of getting ready to poke Gaia because she couldn't talk and was bored.

"It's all right," he said lightly, lowering his hand. "You can talk now. I just felt like I should explain the problem. And yes, Gaia, I know I never answered your second question. Mystique is a metamorph. And I'd rather you didn't poke Jinx."

Gaia stashed her hands behind her back and put on her most angelic face in response to Jinx's glare and inwardly pouted. Telepathy seemed like cheating, somehow. Not that Gaia wouldn't cheat up a storm if she were telepathic… but still!

"Now," he continued. "There's something I'm mildly curious about. I could just 'cheat'-" he glanced at Gaia. "However, I'd prefer to hear your sides of the story. What were you doing by the side of that road?"

Gaia bit her lip. (It was a bad habit that wreaked havoc with her lipstick.) "Well, we were on our way to New Orleans with this guy we met at the bus station. Yeah, spare me the lecture, I know I should be at home going to school and everything, but… I don't know. It was time to go. I think our neighbors would have lynched us both if we'd stayed much longer. Plus, it's hurricane season and I wanted to stop any hurricanes that might be going there; it's not like they need any more of that stuff. Well, nobody really needs hurricanes, but-"

"Get on with it," Jinx advised irritably.

"Anyway, we ended up stranded in the middle of the desert. The guy had bailed, so we tried to get a ride by hitchhiking. Yeah, I know every book in the world that mentions hitchhiking says it's a really dumb move, especially for young girls, but they are not reckoning with the fact that if any guy tries to attack us or something, Jinx can curse him or I can strike him with lightning. So I figured we were pretty safe. After a few hours, this car came along, a black Buick-"

"A Buick? I can't believe you can remember the brand, Gaia!" Jinx interjected.

"Well, while you were listening to your fancy little iPod, I was playing 'Guess the Model of Car That Will Pretend We Don't Exist and Just Leave Us Here To Rot,' and I remember I'd just said 'Wow! It really is a Buick LaCrosse! I'm getting pretty good at this!' when the car came right at us."

Xavier lifted an eyebrow. "You weren't sitting on the road, were you?"

"Do you think we're idiots? No, we were just off the shoulder. Close enough to see the cars, but not close enough that someone would kill us by accident." Gaia paused for a moment. "Well, it could have been an accident, but I think the probability is roughly the same as the situation where the roomful of monkeys manage to type _Hamlet _by pushing random-"

Jinx took the pencil out of her hair and threw it at Gaia's head to express her opinion of Gaia's tangents. Gaia caught the pencil clumsily, then held it away from Jinx's reaching hands as she continued. "I kind of froze up, but Jinx grabbed my hand and we jumped, and then everything went black."

"Do you remember who was driving the car?" Xavier asked.

"The windshield was tinted. All I saw was the outline, and outlines are pretty general, like how the guy and the girl they put on bathroom doors would look completely alike if the girl one wasn't wearing a skirt."

"That is so wrong," Jinx agreed vigorously, still trying to get the pencil. "I mean, she doesn't have hair! She needs hair! She needs RED hair!"

Gaia shook her head. "Anyway, that's what I remember. What about you, Jinx?"

Jinx gave up on her pencil, as Xavier was giving her a look that plainly said, "It's your turn."

Plus, there was a voice in her head saying, "It's your turn, Jinx."

"All right! All right. Just don't get into my head anymore. It makes me think I'm crazy. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Okay." Jinx took a deep breath. "What I remember seems a little different from Gaia's story. I was listening to my iPod, which was playing the ice cream song, by the way."

"The ice cream song!" Gaia exclaimed. "I love the ice cream song!"

Suddenly the two were in their own little world, happily humming to each other. Professor Xavier could barely believe how easily distracted they were. "Can we get back to the subject at hand?" he asked. Gaia and Jinx were too busy humming. Sighing, he closed his eyes…

"Agh!" the girls screamed, crouching and covering their ears to try and block out the screaming in their heads.

"Make it stop!" Jinx yelled. The screaming stopped, and they both stood up shakily. "What did you do that for?" she added crossly, putting her hands on her hips.

"I didn't do that."

"Then who did?" Gaia asked suspiciously.

"One of my students. She can scream rather loudly. Someone must have stolen her pudding. She loves pudding."

Gaia and Jinx exchanged skeptical glances.

"I'll just get on with my story," Jinx said. "Okay, so I remember our trip to New Orleans. We snuck out of our houses, and we flew there. Literally. That guy Gaia was talking about, he had the power to fly, so he offered us a lift-"

"Jinx had a crush on him!" Gaia interrupted playfully.

"Can't you just let me tell the story? Okay, so he gave us a lift. But he dropped us off at some random place that was nowhere near our destination. I tried to tell him it wasn't the place we were headed when he put us down, but he flew away. Really fast. We were really confused. There weren't any cars around, so I listened to my iPod. Gaia was supposedly keeping watch, but she was in her own little reality."

"Hey! I was playing-"

"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, this car looked like it was pulling over, so I put away my iPod. I heard Gaia yell something about the car being a Buick, and I was going to tell her to shut up when I saw a wolf attack her. I tried to curse him; I managed to make the lamppost fall on his head, but someone else attacked me from the back. It was like someone had slammed a huge metal wall against my sides. I don't remember anything after that."

The Professor looked pensive. "I can help you both."

"How?" Gaia and Jinx asked simultaneously.

"I didn't know I needed help," Gaia objected. "Jinx needs help, sure, but it's nothing a hospital couldn't take care of."

"I know, Gaia, but let's not get off subject," Jinx said. She turned to the Professor. "What do you want us to do? Or how are you going to help us?"

"I can help you find out who is trying to kill you."


	4. Chapter 4: A Big Jinx

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or Portishead's song "Sour Times," so don't get litigious.

Jinx looked puzzled. "Wait, I'm confused. What can you do for us?"

"Well… I can read your mind. But you might not want it."

"Why not?"

"Well, everyone's first time is pretty painful."

"Why would reading my mind be painful for you?"

"No, it would be painful for you. I am going to search your memory, and see if I can find the face of one of your attackers. Then I can find out who they were."

"I'll go first," Gaia offered reluctantly. She had never liked the thought of someone snooping around in her grey matter, but she figured Jinx didn't need anymore pain right now. Anyway, she was kind of curious. What could he find out that she didn't already know?

She closed her eyes…

Back at home. The kids at school, ganging up on a young Jinx because they'd figured out that, in some cases, she was responsible for their bad luck. It was stupid, like blaming Gaia for every natural disaster in history…

Principal Whatshisname, the one who'd been elected prom queen or something back when he went to the high school, giving her his best faux-sorry look. He was saying that they couldn't afford to have people like her around, that she was a liability, that she didn't deserve to be valedictorian even though she really was better than her classmates. She'd looked calm for a moment, then thrown his hot coffee into his face…

Her parents, telling her that it wasn't safe at home anymore, not when people were getting so angry at mutants…

The lamppost falling toward the Buick, then being shoved away by a force Gaia couldn't see…

Gaia jumped back and opened her eyes. Why hadn't she remembered that before!

"What did you see, Professor?" Jinx asked. The Professor was staring at the floor, still thinking about what he had seen. Gaia slumped back against the wall, her head throbbing with sharp pains. Jinx limped over to Gaia. "Hey, Gaia, are you all right?"

"Don't worry," answered Xavier, gesturing at Jinx not to touch her. "She'll be fine. Just don't touch her." Gaia was eerily silent. "Will you come over here, Jinx?"

Jinx closed her eyes and stepped forward…

Suddenly, she saw her old school… her old home… her old life…

A group of kids chasing after her, screaming "Jinx! Jinx! You're a big jinx!" There was a sudden blow to the back of young Jinx's head, and Gaia was yelling at the kids to stop as Jinx's vision went dark…

Another beating from the other kids. Jinx was lying on the pavement, feeling lightheaded and nauseated as a pool of blood formed around her head…

Then her memory shifted to flying with someone, Gaia hugging the boy's other side for dear life…

Gaia being beaten by a certain wolf-like creature…

Then a young boy with a green tongue attacking Jinx with a large piece of metal…

The Professor opened his eyes. When Jinx opened her eyes, tears began to pour out. She had such a bad headache that she collapsed.

"Jinx!" Gaia ran to Jinx, who was lying on the floor, just as Jinx opened her eyes again.

"That's more than enough for today," the Professor said. "You've both been through quite a lot. I'd suggest that you both allow Jean to give you a checkup, and she could certainly take care of Jinx's ribs, but…" He looked warily at Gaia. Jinx was staring at Gaia, too, understanding what the "but" was about.

"But what?" Gaia wanted to know. "What do you think I'm going to do, try attacking Jean with a tongue depressor?" Actually, that wasn't such a bad idea… suddenly remembering that her thoughts had an audience, Gaia began to concentrate really hard on the song "Gimme Shelter."

Once again, Jinx was at the playground where the kids always threw rocks at her when she was young. Jinx wasn't a child anymore, so anyone would think that she'd have the guts to fight back.

She didn't.

As soon as the children came towards her, she backed away. It was grade school all over again, and even though Jinx was becoming an adult, the sight of the stones the children were holding made her terrified. She tried to use her powers, but it didn't work. Why? It seemed like they were throwing the rocks in slow motion. The pain came at her in slow motion, too: the sharp pain of the particularly jagged rocks, the crushing pain where the rocks piled up, the sudden punching pain of the average rocks… all drawn-out and magnified…

They were still laughing, and someone had started the familiar chant: "Jinx! Jinx! You're a big jinx!" Each of them kicked her until her face was covered in blood and bruises, and then they left her on the pavement.

Suddenly, the sky turned gray and stormy. Jinx rose to her feet, all her injuries gone. The children turned around to look at her. She responded by giving them the evil eye, unleashing her power on them. The children began to drop, struck with all kinds of different grotesque or painful maladies: seizures, strokes, heart attacks, internal bleeding, leprosy, something that looked like a virulent strain of the black plague…

Amidst all the moans, groans, screams and deaths, Jinx found that she was enjoying their pain just as much as they'd enjoyed hers.


	5. Chapter 5: Gaia v Jean

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or Portishead's song "Sour Times," so don't get litigious.

That was when Jinx woke up, covered in sweat and panicking. She couldn't believe that all of that had been a dream…

Dr. Grey walked in. "Thank goodness, you're all right! Your heart rate kept speeding up while you were sleeping. We thought we were going to lose you. Did you have a nightmare or something?"

Jinx couldn't stop hyperventilating. "It was worse than a nightmare."

"What's worse that a nightmare?" Gaia asked. Jinx was surprised that Gaia was there. As if answering her silent question, Gaia added, "Dr. Grey says I have a… what was it again?"

Jean frowned. "Weren't you listening?"

Gaia grinned. "Nope!"

Jinx laughed. "Oh, Gaia. The way you are…" She tried to get out of bed. "Hey! My ribs are in place! Uh-oh… I need to go to the bathroom, Gaia."

"I think they have a bathroom down the hall and to the left, past the funky looking door the good doctor wouldn't let me near," Gaia responded cheerfully.

Jinx rolled her eyes. "I meant that I need you to take me there. You know I can't remember your directions, unless you write them down…"

"You really shouldn't go any-" Jean began to tell Gaia just as Gaia said:

"Of course I'll take you! Maybe I can check out that door on the way back!"

Jean looked at Jinx, as if expecting her to be the voice of reason. Naturally, Jinx told her friend: "Okay then. Gaia, you stay. I'll try to find the bathroom myself. Gaia, try not to be your random self." With that, she walked away.

Jean Grey and Gaia silently watched as Jinx left the room. A few minutes later, Jean tried to start a conversation. "So, how do you feel?"

"Usually I use my hands. What about you, Flipper?"

The doctor was disgustingly patient. "Why are you calling me Flipper?"

"Because it would be insulting to call you Shamu. Hey, do you like fish? I don't like fish. Nothing personal."

Jean couldn't see how performing cetaceans could have anything to do with any part of this situation, and she certainly couldn't see how any of this could mean "nothing personal." So she concentrated on the monitors and said, "I like fish as much as anyone." There, simple answer, now could she and Gaia perhaps have a conversation without random veiled insults or relentless sarcasm?

Gaia, of course, saw right through the conversational tactic. "But how much does anyone like fish?"

Jean groaned. She tried to use her telepathic abilities to see what Gaia was thinking, but between the confusing conversation and the loud rendition of "BEER" Gaia was playing in her mind, she was beginning to develop a migraine. "Are you capable of holding a normal conversation?" she asked, annoyance finally creeping into her voice.

"Probably." Gaia grinned. "But don't worry, Flipper, a conversation with you will _never _be normal."

Jean began looking in the nearest set of drawers for a bottle of aspirin. "So, Charlotte-"

"GAIA!"

"I just thought you might prefer your actual-"

"Does a snowball prefer to vacation in Hell?"

"All right, all right." Jean began unhooking the monitor. "It should be okay for you to walk around now. Go catch up with your friend." Please, she added mentally, glad that Gaia wasn't a telepath. "And don't mess with that door!" she yelled after Gaia.

"I sure will!" the girl's voice came back. Gaia actually wasn't sure she was interested in the door; she was mostly saying it because she wanted to piss Jean off. What was it that she disliked so much about Jean, anyway? The way that guy had looked at her, like she was the coolest girl on earth? The way she'd stayed relatively calm with everything Gaia had thrown at her? The fact that it was she who had stuck needles in Gaia's arms?

Hell… did she even needa reason to detest Jean?

It took quite a bit longer than Gaia had remembered to get to the bathroom. The worst part of the long walk was that she had time to think. Why did Qrys, that guy from the bus station, leave them in the middle of nowhere? Why didn't she remember the people getting out of the car and attacking her? (Who were those people anyway?) Why would anyone go out of their way to attack her and Jinx? And if the villains who wanted them dead had any sense of decent evil taste, why were they driving a Buick?

Gaia was so engrossed in her wondering that she walked straight into the bathroom door.

Jinx opened the door to find Gaia on the floor, forehead red where she'd smacked into the door. "Gaia! What the heck were you doing?" She helped Gaia back onto her feet. "Did someone slam you into that door? Was it that Dr. Grey?" (Jinx didn't really care for Jean either.) "I knew she would use her telekinetic powers on you, but it's not your fault you're annoying. She should have known."

Gaia smiled at her and didn't say anything.

"What! Is the Professor singing in your head or something? Ugh, never mind, let's go." Jinx grabbed Gaia's hand and rushed back to Dr. Grey.

As soon as the two entered the room, Jean pretended to be very busy with some files, hoping that Gaia would just go away if she ignored her hard enough.

Gaia spoke up. "I walked into a door." Jean realized that she finally had the chance to throw some sarcasm back at Gaia, but since she was reluctant to do so, Gaia was able to swipe the responses from under her nose. "Good for me. My parents must be so proud."

Jinx just stood there glaring at Jean. "What?" the doctor protested. "If I wanted revenge on Gaia, I could do a LOT better than making her walk into a door!" Jean blushed. She hadn't meant to say that! She'd never said anything like that before, especially to a kid!

"Oh, so what would you have done?" Gaia's voice was laced with mock innocence.

Jean was on the verge of losing her patience. "Nothing, of course," she tried to assure the girls (and herself). "I would have done nothing."

Jinx raised an eyebrow at Jean. "Would you really?"

Jean nodded.

_Maybe I should give her a test_, Jinx thought. She began to stare at the are surrounding Jean, her eyes turning grey and her hair rising as though charged with static electricity.

Jean was wondering what was wrong with Jinx when she tripped over the stool behind her. _Oops… I didn't see that there. _The top button on her blouse broke, and one of her molars started to ache. The monitor that she had been trying to repair for the last four months exploded, showering the floor with sparks. Her migraine was getting so bad she could barely think. _Why are all these things happening to me? It's like I've been jinxed or… wait a minute… Jinx! _The glasses Scott had given her broke and slashed her eyelid. _That's IT!_ Jean suddenly used her telekinetic powers to levitate. "Is that all you've got?" she challenged the girls as she got ready to do something…


	6. Chapter 6: What Makes Gaia Run?

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or Portishead's song "Sour Times," so don't get litigious.

"That is enough, Jinx." The Professor was sitting in the doorway. "Jean, why don't you return yourself to the ground…"

Once again embarrassed by her loss of temper, Jean floated gracefully to the ground. Gaia and Jinx tried, but failed miserably, to look innocent.

"Professor," Jean said sheepishly, "I was never going to-"

"Please leave the room, Jean," Professor Xavier interrupted. Jinx shot Jean a final look, an Jean tripped over a stool… again.

"Hey! I thought that stool was over-" Jean realized that Jinx had been using her power again and stalked out of the room, closing the door behind her with a wave of her hand.

"Jinx," the Professor said sternly, "I would appreciate it if you did not use your powers against fellow mutants."

"Fellow mutants?" Jinx snorted. "I don't even live here! C'mon, Gaia, let's go."

Gaia didn't move. She wasn't completely sure why she wasn't moving; if someone had asked her if she wanted to stay, she'd have said "No! Are you on crack?" Yet somehow, she felt like she shouldn't leave, like she would be missing out on something if they left. She tried to hold back the second feeling. "Let's go, Jinx," she agreed, still not budging.

"Gaia!" Jinx was getting angry.

"Please," the Professor said. "You two should stay with us for a while. It's not even safe with your parents anymore."

"Why wouldn't it be?" Jinx asked. "Our families might be worried by now."

"That's what I came in to tell you. I'm sorry, Gaia…"

Gaia looked like she'd been slapped. "Yes?"

"You should probably sit down, Gaia."

Jinx brought over the stool Jean had tripped over.

"Thanks," Gaia said nervously as she sat.

"Gaia…"

"Could you stop saying my name and get to the point?" Gaia snapped, more fear than anger in her voice.

"Your family… I don't really know how to explain all of what happened. They were murdered."

Jinx put her hands over her mouth, as if to stop herself from screaming. "Oh my god…"

Gaia was known to do very stupid things when she felt overwhelmed. In this case, she grabbed her backpack from the corner of the room and fled, tears pouring down her face, running faster than Jinx had believed possible.

Jinx ran after her. "Gaia! Wait!" Right when Jinx was about to run out past the doors, she felt a force hold her back. She turned around in time to feel the grip of Jean's telekinesis slacken.

"You should let her go. She needs to be by herself."

Jinx looked at the floor, then back up at Jean. "Do you know what happened?" she asked.

"Yes," Jean answered. "I heard from behind the wall. I have a little telepathic power." Jinx's face looked grave. She sat on the floor and put her hands over her face. When she put them down again, her face was red and wet from crying.

"Who would do something like that?" she asked, looking helplessly at Jean.

---

Meanwhile, Gaia was walking away from the school, trying not to think about what she'd been told. I'll just go to New Orleans, and I'll do nice things for people and eat ice cream and I'll feel better. There's a bus there, if I can just catch it…

Gaia didn't bother to finish her thought. She just climbed in.


	7. Chapter 7: Heavensent

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or Portishead's song "Sour Times," so don't get litigious.

Jean didn't answer Jinx's question. She could come up with plenty of reasons for why someone would commit murder, but giving Jinx a vague answer would just be heartless. She already knew who had murdered Gaia's parents, but she didn't know why, and Jinx needed to hear both parts of the answer.

"Jinx, I already set up your room. You should go and have a rest." She gave Jinx the directions, and as Jinx let, the Professor re-entered the room. "What should we do?"

"I don't really know," he admitted. "I thought that when I broke the news, she'd want to stay here where she'd be safe. Instead, she's run off, and it's no good finding her if she doesn't want to be found."

---

On the bus, Gaia was shaking her CD player in frustration. She did NOT need this! Not now! It was the only way she'd been able to keep people from asking about her swollen red eyes.

"Hey," the girl sitting next to her whispered. "Need batteries?"

Gaia sniffled. "Yeah. Thanks. Um, sorry I've been ignoring you all bus ride."

Battery Girl smiled. "Nah, that's OK. It's not like you came on this bus to socialize. Me, I'm taking the bus because my car's in a garage in New York City, waiting for me to pick it up. How about…" She trailed off.

"What?" asked a confused Gaia.

"I was gonna ask you why you were on this bus," Battery Girl admitted. "But I saw your face and I figure if you're leaving anything that bad, you don't need a reason." She dug around in her purse and pulled out a little plastic compact. "White eyeshadow. Maybe it'll bring out the whites of your eyes enough that people'll stop trying to comfort you. I hate it when they do that and they don't even know the situation."

Gaia was astonished. She didn't even know this girl, but she'd figured out the situation and how to help almost instantly. "Thanks. Hey, if I'm going to be thanking you every five seconds, you should probably tell me your name. I don't want to get stuck saying 'Thanks, uh… person.'" Both of them laughed.

"Julie," Battery Girl finally said. If Gaia had been fully functioning, she would have noticed that Julie had needed a few extra seconds to remember her own name. She was so tired and miserable, though, that her natural suspicion failed to rise to the occasion. "So, where do you think you'll end up?"

"New Orleans," came Gaia's determined answer.

"By plane? Train? Bus?"

Gaia's confidence faltered. "Um. I was just going to hitch rides-"

"Not only is that dangerous," Julie pointed out with a shake of her dark ponytail, "it's also pretty difficult nowadays. I had a friend who tried to hitchhike cross-country. No one would pick her up. She couldn't get five miles from home. Look, I was planning to stay in New York for the next couple of weeks, but if it'll keep you from sitting by the road until doomsday, I'll give you a ride."

"Really?" Gaia couldn't believe her luck.

"Sure. I take the same stupid vacation to New York every year. This way, I can go on to California after dropping you off." Julie stifled a grin. "I should send my wannabe-hitchhiker friend a postcard from LA. She'll just wanna kill me!"

A few hours later, Gaia was having a great time, considering that she'd just had the shock of her life.

"Feeling better?" Julie asked. Gaia nodded. She felt relieved after telling Julie about it all (except, of course, the mutant parts of it… Gaia wasn't a complete lunatic). "Good. Hey, do you mind if I change the CD?"

Gaia shook her head and leaned back in her seat, gazing out the window. She didn't see Julie pull the dart pistol from behind the CDs, and she'd barely registered that something had pricked her neck when she lost consciousness.

Julie grinned unabashedly, showcasing the fangs and pointed teeth she'd been so careful to hide from Gaia. She could pass for a reasonably pretty human when all the outward signs of her mutation were covered up, but now that the girl wasn't watching her, she didn't have to disguise herself as one of those worthless creatures. She tugged her tail out of her jeans, whipping it around a little to shake off the numbness, then pulled off her ponytail holder. The hair she'd combed over her horns fell back to the side of her face. Too bad she couldn't do anything about her wings; she wasn't about to take off her shirt in front of a stranger even if she was knocked out. As she removed the sunglasses that had hidden her demonic-looking red eyes, she whispered something to Gaia's slumped form: "My name is Heaven. But I'm afraid you might find I'm taking you to Hell."


End file.
